The announced strikes by pilots and flight attendants have begun at Lufthansa.
According to the calling union, the crew strikes at Lufthansa have started. “The strike is going as we expected,” said UFO tariff expert Harry Jaeger at Frankfurt Airport. Hundreds of Lufthansa takeoffs and landings were canceled today at Germany’s largest hub. Individual flights went to destinations in Europe and overseas. Long queues formed at the Lufthansa rebooking counters.
Around 800 flights were canceled by the companies on strike, Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Cityline, as the company reported at midday. However, around 400 flights took place at the non-strike airlines Eurowings, Discover and Lufthansa City Airlines. It is hoped that the normal flight schedule will be able to be offered again as far as possible from Friday.
According to the airport operator, 450 of 1,117 planned flights were canceled in Frankfurt alone. The numbers refer to all airlines, but the majority of the failures can be attributed to Lufthansa. In Munich, 275 of 920 planned flights were canceled. There were also outages at other airports.
In Frankfurt, especially in Terminal Area A, it was significantly emptier than usual. This section is used exclusively by Lufthansa. Because all other airlines are not on strike, there was a lot of public traffic in the other sections.
According to initial feedback, the Cockpit pilots’ union assumes that its members are highly willing to take industrial action. “We see a very good turnout in Frankfurt,” said VC President Andreas Pinheiro at the airport. He continued: “What we need is a new offer. Lufthansa has not responded.”
The trade unionist did not rule out further strikes for higher company pensions. “As a union, we don’t have many tools other than industrial action. If there is no offer, the escalation spiral continues.”
Union emphasizes high willingness to take industrial action
UFO tariff expert Harry Jaeger says at the airport that Lufthansa sometimes uses management staff who can fly. The strike is going as expected. According to initial feedback, the Cockpit pilots’ union assumes that its members are highly willing to take industrial action – and has not ruled out further strikes.
Hundreds of Lufthansa takeoffs and landings in Frankfurt were canceled; Lufthansa did not initially provide exact figures. Individual flights went to destinations in Europe and overseas. An announcement at the airport drew attention to “irregularities in Lufthansa’s operations” and suggested passengers check their cell phones for more information.
According to an estimate by the airport association ADV, more than 460 flights with 69,000 affected passengers will be canceled across Germany due to the all-day strike.
Board warns of high cost increases
The Lufthansa board criticized the crew strikes as a “completely unnecessary escalation.” The unions’ demands would mean further sharp cost increases at Lufthansa’s core company, said human resources director and labor director Michael Niggemann in Berlin. But there is no leeway there.
By far the group’s largest airline, it fell into the red in 2024 and is to be brought back on track with a restructuring program called “Turnaround”. On March 6th, the MDax Group (MDAX) will also present new figures.
Lufthansa flights canceled at BER – these are alternatives
A warning strike at Lufthansa is also leading to flight cancellations at the capital’s BER airport today. The airline’s connections to Munich and Frankfurt are affected, as can be seen from the airport’s departure information this morning. Accordingly, a total of 14 flights will be canceled during the day.
It is best for affected passengers to take the train. The Lufthansa flight ticket can be used as a train ticket at no extra charge, the airline said. She recommends reserving a seat on the train you want. If you have to catch a connecting flight in Frankfurt, you should allow enough time for the change.
Basically, Lufthansa rebooks travelers whose connection has been canceled on other flights, it said. Passengers can find information about this on the company’s booking platform. In this case, you should also be informed via message on your cell phone.
The unions Cockpit and UFO have called for the industrial action. The pilots are on strike at the airlines Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo. The UFO cabin union has called on staff at Lufthansa’s core company and its regional subsidiary Cityline to go on a warning strike. Basically, the crew unions want to prevent all departures in Germany throughout the day.
In XETRA trading, the Lufthansa share was temporarily 1.85 percent higher at 9.03 euros. /ceb/DP/eg
FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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